


Tea with a Black Dragon - a Witchblade Fan-fic - PG13

by BardicRaven



Series: Witchblade - ...with a Vari-colored Dragon [1]
Category: Star Trek, Witchblade (TV)
Genre: Drug Use, Gen, Interspecies, Interspecies Friendship, Klingon, Psychotropic Drugs, Tea
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2003-02-03
Updated: 2003-02-03
Packaged: 2018-03-04 21:16:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,858
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3090182
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BardicRaven/pseuds/BardicRaven
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ian takes tea in between the Worlds....</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tea with a Black Dragon - a Witchblade Fan-fic - PG13

Greetings!

The first in the "with a * Dragon" series.... Here, Ian meets toQ'hom for the first time. This story takes place in 1998, for those with an interest in such things.

Still from my AU... PG-13 for drug use.

Story copyright 2003 Katrina B.W. Diamond-Hawke

Ian Nottingham, Sara Pezzini  
copyright Top Cow, Warner Brothers, et al.

Ambassador toQ'hom vestai garagh toQ’ pacH  
developed by Katrina B.W. Diamond-Hawke

Bvt Maj. toQ' vestai garagh toQ’ pacH  
developed by Michael R. Diamond

The alien language used in this story does not belong to me… the honor and glory and copyrights there belong to Marc Okrand, et al.

... and, last but not least, persons, places, and events are either fictitious or used fictitiously...  
Enjoy!  
-Katrina

 

 

** Tea with a Black Dragon - PG13 **

* * *

Greetings!  
  
This is the first in the "...with a Black Dragon" series… please, pull up a chair, sit down, and enjoy a cuppa… and teawithablackdragon, whoever you are… my sincerest thanks for the inspiration…. <<:->  
  
Brightest Blessings,  
Katrina  
  
P.S. This story takes place sometime in 1998, for those who have been curious as to how long toQ’hom and Ian have known each other.  
  
  
**************************  
Tea with a Black Dragon  
  
Story copyright 2003 Katrina B.W. Diamond-Hawke  
Ian Nottingham, Sara Pezzini copyright Top Cow, Warner Brothers, et al.  
Ambassador toQ'hom vestai garagh toQ’ pacH developed by Katrina B.W. Diamond-Hawke  
Bvt Maj. toQ' vestai garagh toQ’ pacH developed by Michael R. Diamond  
  
The alien language used in this story does not belong to me… the honor and glory and copyrights there belong to Marc Okrand, et al.  
  
... and, last but not least, persons, places, and events are either fictitious or used fictitiously...  
_________________________  
  
Ian Nottingham sat on the sheepskin rug in front of the fire, meditating - walking the worlds.  
  
“Ahhh… a fellow Traveller.” Ian looked up to see a woman beckoning to him. She was dressed in long, heavy, ornate robes of dark burgundy and brown, embroidered in what appeared to be metallic thread. As he drew closer, he saw that she had deep ridges on her forehead, sweeping back to long auburn hair, decorated here and there with beaded braids. By human standards, he would have judged her to be in her early middle age, although human she clearly was not.  
  
As he drew near, she looked him up and down, appraisingly, her upswept eyes beneath bushy brows staring into his. Apparently satisfied with what she saw, she extended a hand to him. “Tera'ngan, will you take tea with me?”  
  
From his training, he recognized the offer as a great honor and courtesy, and bowed his head respectfully. His instincts told him he had nothing to fear from her, and he had learned over the years to follow their recommendations. “Thank you, Lady. I will,” he said, taking her hand and escorting her back up the stonework path she had come down and into the low-roofed building beyond. Inside, there were two chairs set around a small table, with the water already steaming in the elegantly simple ceramic teapot sitting on it. The teapot and two ceramic goblets were placed on a silver tray decorated with small purple iris-like flowers. Ian gave a start as he recognized them.

 

 

**Re: Tea with a Black Dragon - PG13 - The Second Cup**

****

*sorries this is late... Whiskey's death hit me hard, too...*  
  
Thanks to Ianr for the awesome yuch (chocolate)... *yum!*  
______________  
  
She caught the movement, though he had tried to keep it hidden from her. “Yes, tera'ngan, they are what you think they are. You see, this tea ceremony is a little… different than the one you are used to. Among my people, death walks with us daily. As we consume the tea, we share life, share death, and are reminded of the brevity of both. Among warriors, death is an experience best shared, would you not agree?”  
  
Ian looked at her, trying to figure out her motives. She gave him a small smile and sat at the table. “You are free to change your mind, tera'ngan. I will not think the less of you for it, although my people would tell me I should. But then, my people tell me a lot of things I don’t listen to.” She picked up one of the sprays of deadly nightshade from the tray, and, opening the teapot, stirred the contents meditatively. “And no, it is not strong enough to kill. Not for the strong, anyway. It is a test… of bravery, of friendship, and it is a symbol, that we are all mortal and that death can come for us at any time. Will you drink with me?”  
  
He nodded briefly, and walked over to the table and sat down in the other chair. “Why me? We did not know each other before this moment.”  
  
She continued to stir the tea as she spoke. Her voice was tired and a little sad. “Because you found me. Because, in spite of what my people tell me, I find there is much about your species that is honorable and worthy. And because, when I come from, right now my people are at war with your people, and I just needed a little reminder of why I should continue the fight to end this conflict.”  
  
“ ‘When’ you come from, Lady?”  
  
She smiled again, a little bitterly. “Long ago, and far away. Once upon a time will be. But very far away.” She put the lid back on the teapot and looked up at Nottingham. “Will you drink with me?” she asked again, only a hint of longing in her voice betraying how much his answer meant to her, the rest carefully kept hidden beneath layers of discipline and will.  
  
Strangely moved by her words, and sensing the great loneliness that in some odd way matched his own, he answered her. “I will, Lady.”

 

 

 

** Re: Tea with a Black Dragon - PG13 - The Third Cup **

* * *

Greetings!  
  
Thnx again, Iranr, for the delightful virtual goodies... yes, I can be bribed... *gryn*  
  
Here's your third cup... enjoy!!!  
  
Katrina  
___________________________  
  
She nodded and poured the steaming contents of the pot into the two goblets that stood on the tray. When she had finished, she took one and beckoned him to take the other. When he did so, she lifted her cup, as if in a toast. “To life. It is only precious when we remember how fleeting it really is,” she said as she drank deeply. Ian did the same.  
  
Within moments he began to feel the effects… his vision blurred, he could feel his pulse accelerate, and speech became a luxury. Headache warred with thirst as he drank more, draining his goblet dry. Unbidden, the Lady poured him another, refilling her own as well. Her skin flushed, she raised her cup to him. “L’chayim,” she slurred, taking a long drink.  
  
Somewhere in the back of his mind, Ian realized that he should be wondering how she knew the phrase, but the thought didn’t quite make it through to the part of his brain that would do anything about it other than wonder. “Slainte,” he returned as he drank, forcing the liquid down. It was becoming increasingly difficult to swallow. He stirred restlessly in his chair. Reality shifted and changed around him, the fluidity of otherwhere becoming more so with the effects of the poison. Visions flew across his mind, almost too fast to see… other lives, other times, other places, other possibilities…. In a brief moment of reality, he looked across the table to see her lost in vision as well, before the poison swept him away again.

 

** Tea with a Black Dragon - The Fourth, and Final, Cup **

* * *

Greetings!  
  
Here you are... love the virtual berries and bananas... most nummy... *gryn*  
  
Have fnu!  
Katrina  
_________________  
  
After some length of time that he could not have put a measure to, he felt himself returning to his senses. As his vision cleared, he looked over to see his drinking partner already recovered. She shook her head at his unspoken question. “Species difference, that is all. Redundant organs. I told you my people walk with death at their side. I was not only speaking metaphorically.”  
  
He nodded and sat quietly, waiting for his head to finish clearing. A knock at the door startled him from his reverie. Instantly, he went on the alert, looking across the table for cues. She held up a hand. “It’s all right. It is my _ loDnal _ , my husband.” She smiled fondly. “He is to me what you are to your Sara.” As he wondered at her knowledge, she turned to the man who walked into the room. “ _ nuqneH, toQ’ _ ?”  
  
“We arrive.”  
  
She nodded, becoming formal, reserved. “ _ qatlho' _ . I will be there shortly.” He saluted her and left, giving a sharp glance at Ian. Ian recognized that look. He had used it himself before, at other men who would look at his beloved Sara.  
  
“Thought you might.” Ian looked up, startled. She gave him a small smile. “I thought I recognized the bonds of love about you, as well as the bonds of duty.”  
  
Ian ducked his head almost shyly. “Stand tall, warrior. Love is never something to be hidden.” She pushed her chair back and rose, her face once more becoming a mask. “I must go. Duty calls.” She looked at him, the loneliness once more in her eyes. “Thank you, warrior. Your strength gives me hope.”  
  
Ian bowed. “You are most welcome, Lady.” He paused. “Will we meet again?”  
  
“I would like that, warrior.”  
  
“May I have your name, so that I may greet you properly next time?”  
  
“ _ toQ’hom. toQ’hom vestai garagh-toQ’-pach _ .”  
  
He bowed again. “Ian. Ian Nottingham.”  
  
She inclined her head to him. “You are a brave warrior, Ian Nottingham. You honor your people. Until next we meet…”  
  
She held out her hand. Ian began to take it, but she shook her head. “Forearm to forearm, as warriors do among my people.” He complied, surprised by the strength in her grip. She looked him in the eyes. “Good hunting,” she said as she released her hold.  
  
He nodded. “And to you as well.”  
  
“I’ll need it, with this lot.” She smiled again, humor in her eyes now, instead of the crushing loneliness of before. Ian felt strangely pleased at having been able to bring light to this alien woman’s eyes. She turned and left the building. He followed, unsurprised to find that she was already gone. In this world, one only had to frame the desire to be home to return there. Before he followed, he engraved this place into his memory. He wanted to be sure he could find it again.  
  
He came back to himself slowly, remembering. He thought on everything that had happened in that strange and wonderful place between the worlds, as he got up, stretched, and made ready to take up his nightly watch. He thought back on the fierce look of protection and warning in the alien man’s eyes. Some things truly do not change, no matter how far away, he thought. Ian Nottingham smiled as he left the room to do a little protecting of his own.  
  
\--- _ Fin et Commencement _ \---

 

* * *


End file.
